Pleasurable Purgatory
by themissingsock
Summary: Naruto returns to Konoha six months later than planned to find that his lateness has lead to a most unfortunate chain of events.


Hey guess what guys? I'm crazy! I've taken on another fic! Whoo.

And guess what else? I'm butchering the entire Naruto series in one fell swoop. I'm gooood.

You'll see.

* * *

**_One: Six Months Too Long_ **

For two and a half years the village had been quiet. Peaceful, serene, relaxed. It was near insufferable, in all honesty. People could actually do their jobs, the Hokage went un-pestered, and Ichiraku ramen was hardly ever visited. The village was _normal._

The peace had never really sunk in all the way, but it had become something of a way of life for the people of Konohagakure. They couldn't be honest in saying they enjoyed it, but they never really thought about it that much to press the issue.

In the few years of peace, however, the village had noted quite the change in one of its more known members. The Hokage's apprentice seemed more…driven than she used to be. Constantly working in the hospital, healing over fifty patients a day, running back and forth from building to building, as well as juggling house calls and clinic visits.

"Good afternoon, baa-chan."

"Good afternoon, Sakura." The old shop owner turned slowly, still holding a large bag of flour in her arms. "How are you today?" She shifted her weight under the heavy bag.

The pink-haired kunoichi plucked the bag out of the old woman's hands and tossed it with ease onto the shelf it would call its home. "I'm doing well." The woman saw through this lie quickly, but said nothing. "I'm actually just here to pick up some ingredients for medicine."

The woman smiled, curling the wrinkles on her face. "Of course you are, my dear. I picked some fresh herbs this morning."

"Thank you, baa-chan."

The old lady watched Sakura's face for a moment. It seemed happy for a while, but as the girl turned toward the herbs she needed, her face softened into an undeniable expression of sadness. "Sakura, are you alright?"

She turned and her face lit up again. "Of course I—"

The old woman held up her hand. "Please, do spare me the lie. I might be old, but I've been around long enough to know a sad face when I see one."

Sakura laughed. "If you knew I wasn't alright, then why did you ask?" The old woman didn't seem pleased. "Well…two years has long passed and…you know…"

"You miss Naruto?"

Sakura didn't say anything for a while. "Of course I do. He's my best friend and…he said he'd bring Sasuke-kun back and…I just want to know that nothing bad has happened to him."

The old woman moved around the counter and stood before Sakura in silence. She had to reach up a little due to her shrinking height, but she managed to get her hand onto Sakura's shoulder. "Have faith in Naruto, dear. I'm sure he'll be back soon." She smiled. "I don't think he'd go back on his word so easily." Sakura smiled to match the gesture and, before she realized exactly what was happening, felt tears sliding down her cheeks. "Hey now, don't cry! You've got medicine to make, don't you?" The woman asked, changing the subject quickly.

Sakura laughed through a sob, wiping tears off her face with the top of her hand. "Right. Can't get lazy." She sucked in a long breath, then exhaled it slowly. "Tsunade-sensei will kill me if I'm late." The old woman nodded, then moved behind the counter.

"Take what you need, dear. It's on me this time." She smiled, turning her back at Sakura's would-be protest. Upon further pressuring she began singing loudly in some unknown key to drown Sakura's voice from her ears. With a smile the medic scooped up the few herbs she needed, bagged them, then turned from the store.

"Thank you so much, baa-chan!"

"Anytime, Sakura!" The woman yelled back, finally silencing that horrific noise she called music.

The kunoichi moved quietly through the village streets, staring at the dirt path in front of her the whole way. She clutched the bag of herbs to her chest tightly, sighing to herself as she passed the ramen stand. The place usually only had one or two customers a week. Feeling bad that she hadn't visited the stand in a while, she chose the excuse that she hadn't eaten since breakfast to justify her stop.

"Good afternoon, Teuchi-san!" She said, pushing open the cloth flaps and setting her bag of groceries down next to a stool. "I'll have one bowl, please."

The man smiled, nodding and starting in on the noodles. "I haven't seen you here for a while, Sakura-san."

"I've just been busy."

"So I've heard," he said, dropping some vegetables into the boiling broth. "You should be careful not to over work yourself." He placed the steaming bowl on the counter in front of Sakura. He caught himself staring at the bags under her eyes and, as an old man with no chance of ever being pummeled by a young woman, he chose to ask: "When was the last time you slept a full eight hours?"

She seemed surprised at such a sudden question, but wasn't really insulted. Teuchi-san was like the cool uncle everyone wanted but could never really find. "I think it's been a month since I've gotten more than three or four hours of sleep…" She slurped some noodles.

"You shouldn't do that to yourself, Sakura-san."

She said nothing.

The stand fell silent for a moment, the only sounds being the frying vegetables and the boiling eggs and the slurping of noodles. Teuchi-san refilled the cups with new chopsticks and wiped down his portion of the counter, all the while watching Sakura for any signs that she should be 'turned in' to her superior. Her health was on the line; why Tsunade hadn't done anything yet was a mystery to the stand owner.

"Nishi! Matsu!" He yelled to the surprise of not only Sakura, but apparently those in the back of the stand (a pair of loud crashes could be heard after each name was yelled). "We're out of eggs. Watch the stand while I run out and get some!"

The two appeared quickly, nearly knocked each other over, then saluted with a loud "Hai!" before bowing and then standing stiff behind the counter. "Can we get you anything, ma'am!?" They yelled, nearly sending Sakura off her chair.

"No, thank you." She whispered.

They nodded harshly, then stood unmoving once again. It was almost eerie how serious they were about working. Almost too serious, actually. The stand fell silent again, letting Sakura near finishing her meal in peace once again. She was almost to the last of her noodles before she heard the flaps a few feet away from her being pushed aside. Figuring it was just Teuchi again she stared into her bowl, watching as her reflection in the broth was skewed by the few remaining noodles floating around. She could've gone along with this excuse for quite a while longer had she not heard Teuchi enter through the back again and yell something at Nishi and Matsu, who ran into the back like maniacs.

Teuchi came to the front after a series of crashes and bangs, grumbling something about butcher knives and the loss of multiple appendages. His mood wasn't dark for long, though, and he shortly began laughing heartily. "Well, well! It's about time you got back!" Sakura looked up slightly, seeing a shadow just a few seats down from her motion for silence. "Ah, I see. Alright then." Teuchi said, chuckling. "Ramen on the house." Not many shop owners gave away products for free, so this caught Sakura's attention. She looked up, turning her head slowly in the shadow's direction.

Sitting two stools away was a thin, tanned boy no older than 15. His hair was messy and, had the forehead protector not been holding it up, probably would've fallen to just below his ears all the way around. The eye that Sakura could see was an amazingly bright shade of blue, and was locked on her. He grinned widely, adjusting the turtleneck collar of his black and orange jacket.

However certain she was, she still had a feeling that she needed to make sure. "N…Naruto?"

He turned and faced her completely, his grin only growing. Not realizing what she was doing, Sakura reached her hand out and ran her fingertips along Naruto's cheek, over the bridge of his nose, over his eyelids and eyebrows and along the edge of his forehead protector. She ran them back down to his chin, then traced the line of his jaw back up, where she cupped her palm to his cheek. "Hey, Sakura."

It seemed that those words were what caused Sakura to realize what she'd done. Her hand retracted quickly and she blushed. The blush then disappeared and she returned to her normal self. It wasn't long before her fist connected with the top of her teammate's head. "Do you know how worried I was, idiot!? 'Oh, I'll be back in two years, Sakura'. My ass! It's almost been three years and there's been no word of you!"

Naruto chuckled uncomfortably. "Good to see you haven't changed, Sakura."

She couldn't help but laugh as she leaned back into her stool, balancing herself with her back against the counter. She let herself calm down as she watched Naruto rub his sore head and slurp down noodles at the same time. "What happened, Naruto?" She asked quietly after Teuchi left.

"What happened to what?"

"Why were you gone longer?"

Naruto paused. "Six months isn't that much longer."

Sakura didn't respond.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I just wasn't ready to come back yet." He pushed the empty bowl away from him. "I hit…a road block of sorts."

"I was worried about you."

"I know, and I said I'm sorry."

Sakura smiled. "I know. And I forgive you." She stood and set her payment on the counter. "Let's go see Tsunade-sama." Naruto nodded and stood, thanking Teuchi with a wave before leaving.

"See you guys next time!" Teuchi yelled, shortly after smacking Matsu over the head for accidentally sticking his finger into the ramen.

* * *

"Well well well. Look who decided to show up." Tsunade said, despite Jiraiya having been in her office for over an hour. "Welcome back, Naruto."

"Good to be back, Tsunade-baachan."

Tsunade stood and walked over to Naruto, where she almost immediately broke into laughter. "Seems you've finally surpassed me in something, kid," she laughed again. "You've gotten quite a bit taller since the last time I saw you." It wasn't all that apparent, but to someone who was seriously looking it could be seen that Naruto was just a few inches taller than the Hokage.

Naruto laughed. A sound missed by many in the village. "So it would seem." It wasn't exactly a sound missed, just long silenced.

"He's done quite a bit more than just grow, Tsunade." Jiraiya made his presence known. "He's become quite powerful." He said this with such a grim seriousness, even Naruto felt chills run down his spine. "He's…" realizing there were others present he stopped himself. He shot the Hokage an "I'll tell you later" glance before continuing. "Mastered chakra control, and he's brought his stamina to an all time high. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with so much drive."

Tsunade picked up the hint quickly. "Of course not. This is Naruto we're talking about." She smiled her charming little Princess smile. "Now, don't you think you have some people you need to visit?" She asked, nodding toward the window, outside of which the village ran nonstop.

Naruto grinned excitedly. "Yeah!" He spun on his heels, shocking the once out-of-it Sakura. "How is everybody? Let's go!"

"Alright, alright. Let's go." She said, sighing through her words. It was exciting to have him home, but it wouldn't be so enjoyable to see his reaction to everyone. This was quickly proven when they ran into a certain Byaakugan user on their way out of the building.

"Naruto? When did you get back?" Neji, who had just about been trampled by the hyperactive knucklehead, asked.

"Neji!" Had his manliness not been on the line, he probably would've tackled the Hyuuga. "I just got back a few hours ago."

Being Neji, an emotionless expression played his face. "It's about time."

The blonde chuckled madly through an immense grin. "Yeah, yeah. So, you guys ever finish the chuunin exams? Or did you have to wait until this year to take them? Aren't they coming up soon?" Of course this question would come up, and of course it'd be Neji he'd ask. The Hyuuga looked at Sakura for approval before answering.

"Yes, Naruto. We already had the exams."

Ever the dense one, Naruto asked. "So? Who passed?"

Neji again looked to Sakura for approval. "We all did." Without waiting, Neji broke the news. "Quite a few of us are jounin now. Including myself."

The news was enough to wipe the grin off the blonde's face. In fact, where it had once been was now a look of pure horror. The smile was quickly reinstated, though. "That's great! Congrats to all of you!" It seemed his previous excitement at seeing all of his friends quickly died away with the birth of a horrific realization the blonde had forced himself to ignore: he was the only genin left. He had thought about this multiple times during his absence, and he'd forced the thought from his mind each time. This being the case, there was no way for him to ever really graduate to chuunin without some form of push from a higher authority.

Because the exams required a three-man team in order to even be enrolled in the exams, Naruto would have to back track into the academy, find himself a pair of graduates not already grouped, and go through each stage of the exam over again. However, because teams were decided based on test scores, this task would be impossible unless he traveled even farther back to the point where he was a student at the academy once again.

Realizing that he must look like a complete idiot standing in silence with an odd look on his face, he shook his head quickly as if to shake the thoughts out of his mind. "Well, I'll be heading home then."

"Really? You haven't even seen the others…" Sakura started, not entirely realizing the severity of the situation.

"No, no, I haven't been in my apartment for over two years. I…I'm sure it needs a good cleaning." And without even a departing word he disappeared in a puff of blue-gray smoke. A skill that neither Neji nor Sakura were aware he'd learned.

"He just needs time," Neji started, noticing Sakura's shocked emotion. "He's forced to remain a genin. That news would be hard on anyone who aims to reach the highest ninja rank possible."

"There's no way for him to progress in rank?" Sakura asked, forgetting herself. She knew full well how the ranks of ninja operated, and she knew full well how one was to become promoted.

Neji also knew this, and was certain his comrade was aware. So, rather than answering her, he turned himself to an angle, opening the doorway to the kunoichi. "Let's walk."

The pink-haired nin nodded in compliance, then led the way to the outdoor set of stairs. She led the way only to the last step, on which she turned to allow Neji the lead. She had never really understood the Hyuuga, nor had she ever really tried to make friends with him. They'd only been in alliance, and had only been acquainted through missions and Tsunade's messages to the jounin (often times Sakura was sent as a messenger if Shizune was attending business elsewhere). So to be invited on a walk was rather awkward for her. Especially since the first ten minutes of the walk were spent in bone-chilling silence.

"Are you aware of what goes on inside Naruto?" Neji finally asked. He wasn't sure if Sakura had previously been told of the Nine-Tails, and didn't know if he should be the one to tell her. However, she didn't seem to quite understand why Naruto acted the way he did, and figured that now was as good a time as any to bring light to the situation. He could take the scolding from his higher-ranking officials later. Right now it seemed he was supposed to inform Sakura of her best friends ailment, regardless of the cost.

"Inside him?"

"Yes," Neji started with a sigh. "Inside him." He wasn't quite sure how to word what he was about to say, but he figured he should give it a shot nonetheless. "Inside Naruto lies a second being. Unlike most chakra wells, his is separated into two, accessible chambers."

"Of course chakra is accessible!" Sakura butted in, disregarding all the other information she'd been given just to force this point forward. Sometimes the girl could be so dense…

"Obviously," Neji said, giving slight emphasis to his pale, all seeing eyes. "But his is accessible in a different way." He looked up in thought. "I don't know how accurate this is, but, in a way, one can solidify their soul and enter each of his chakra chambers. More like just a particular one, to be more exact."

Sakura gave a look of misunderstanding.

"That's not as important as what I'm about to tell you, however." He stopped walking. "In that second chamber, the Kyuubi is sealed." Sakura's face took on a look of either horror or disgust. At the moment, one couldn't really tell the difference. "The Nine-Tailed fox was sealed into him by the Yondaime in order to protect Konoha."

"So…all this time, it hasn't just been some kind of blood-line trait? Those reactions…the change in his eyes…it's all been the Kyuubi?" Sakura asked calculatedly.

Neji nodded.

"And the village has shunned him his entire life, rather than sheltering him?" Her voice was slowly becoming louder. "They mistreated him and ignored him and called him names—we acted as if it was all his fault? We were raised to believe that he was insignificant only because he was the shell the Yondaime used to hold a beast?" Her eyes met the ground but shot madly around the area as if she were searching the grass for all the answers. "He should be revered as a hero!" She looked up again, searching the Hyuuga's face. Her breathing gained speed as she became more and more frustrated. "That's why he wants to become Hokage. He wants the respect…"

"He wants the village to know that he is willing to risk his life just to protect them." Neji hadn't quite realized this until the older jounins had explained it to him a year ago. He had, in that time, grown to respect the knucklehead ninja.

"He wants them to know he'd never do anything to hurt them," Sakura said quietly, staring down at her feet. The two slowly turned, having finally met in the middle. Slowly Sakura led Neji back to the village, only slowing once they'd entered the peaceful area again. "He wants them to know he cares for them."

* * *

Oh wow. This is a pretty long chapter coming from me, is it not? Not much longer, but still it's pretty long...And no, there will be no NejixSakura action. He just seemed to be the wisest of the rookie nine, so I chose him to break the news. But oh the foreshadowing he's induced. Bwahahahahahahaha.

And thank you to my new beta, Candace. Like a ravenous beast she tore apart the terror of my writing to find something worth posting. Twice.


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